Dane - A MacKenzie Novel (18 page)

“Whoever betrayed me told Miguel I was
working undercover, and he also found out Carmen was feeding me
information to turn over to the DEA. Miguel had us dragged out of
bed in the middle of the night. They beat us both, and I was shot
when I tried to protect her.” His voice was cold and emotionless
now, as if the memory were too much for him to bear. “One of
Miguel’s soldiers raped Carmen as they held me down. There was
nothing I could do but watch.”

His voice went hoarse and Bayleigh felt the
tears as they ran down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry, Cade.”

She didn’t want to hear anymore, but he
didn’t seem to be able to stop now that he’d started talking.

“Those same soldiers dragged us to the
warehouse we used to hold shipments before they went out to the
distributers. I knew we were going to die then. I’d been a part of
the cartel too long. The warehouse was where we took anyone who
needed to be disposed of. There were drains in the floor, so it was
easy to clean up the messes,” he said hollowly. “Carmen didn’t know
that, but I did. They’d kill us both and I was powerless to stop
them. In the end it was Miguel who pulled the trigger. He looked me
right in the eyes as he killed his only daughter—not an ounce of
remorse in his eyes.”

Bayleigh swallowed painfully, her heart
breaking for him. “How did you get out?”

“My brother,” he said, the hint of a smile
softening his face. “Declan knew something was wrong when the
shipment drop schedule was changed. He and I have been working
together a long time. Your brother was there too.”

“Which brother?” She thought quickly and
realized that was probably a stupid question. There would be no
reason for a Navy SEAL to be working a job stateside. And then she
thought about what he’d just admitted. “You know Brant?”

“Mmm,” he acknowledged, playing with the ends
of her hair. “We went to college together.”

“You do realize that at some point in the
future when I have the energy, I’m going to be irritated by this
information?”

“I’d expect nothing less.”

Bayleigh leaned up and took his face between
her hands, seeing the surprise that came into his eyes as she
kissed him softly on the lips. She felt the prick of tears once
more as she saw the way he blanked his face, as if he couldn’t deal
with any more emotion.

“I’m so sorry for what he did to her,” she
said. “And I’m glad that you had the chance to experience the love
that so many people never do. I know exactly the feeling you
described. That moment where your life changes in an instant.
Because it’s how I felt when I met you. I love you, Cade.”

His eyes filled with pain and sorrow and
regret, and he shook his head, she was sure getting ready to deny
that those were her true feelings.

“You don’t have to say it back.” She put her
fingers across his lips to keep him from speaking. “All you need to
know is that it’s there if you want it. When you need it. I’ve had
a relationship where there was nothing but accusations and hard
words, where there was no respect. I know the difference now, and I
know I can never settle for anything less. Paul didn’t make me less
because I wasn’t what he needed. But you have made me more, Cade.
And I’ll always love you for that alone.”

“I wish—” he said, moving her hand and
pulling her closer so she leaned over him, her hair curtaining
their faces. “I wish I could give you more. But I just can’t go
through that again. Love hurts, Bayleigh. That’s what the Hallmark
Channel doesn’t tell anyone. It hurts like nothing else in this
world. I can care for you. I
do
care for you. But I just
don’t think I can let myself take the chance again.”

She knew he wouldn’t be pushed. This was
something he was going to have to figure out on his own. All she
could do was love him in every way she knew how. She crawled over
him so her legs straddled his hips, and she leaned down to kiss him
again.

“It’s okay, Cade,” she whispered. “You don’t
have to explain. Just let me love you.”

He was already hot and hard beneath her, his
cock nudging at her swollen folds as she kissed him deeper, her
mouth sucking and stroking his tongue with slow, sensual motions.
She rocked against him slowly, teasing herself every time his cock
pressed against the taut bud of her clit.

“God, Bayleigh,” he groaned, his voice
tortured.

“Just let me love you,” she said again before
she sank down on him to the hilt in one smooth motion.

They moaned in tandem and she placed her
knees securely on either side of him as she sat back so the
penetration was deeper. He nudged at her cervix and she pressed
down harder to feel the sensation again, squeezing and relaxing her
muscles around him, but not letting him move inside of her as he
wanted to do.

“You’re killing me, baby.”

His eyes were only half open, so black she
could almost see herself in their depths, and his breathing was
labored. His fingers bit into her hips, but she didn’t mind the
pain. This was a gift she could give him. Her love. Her need.

Her hands trailed over his chest, the ridged
muscles jumping beneath her touch, and then they continued on, up
her thighs and belly to her aching breasts. He watched her every
movement, and sweat popped out on his brow as she took her nipples
between her fingers and plucked them to hard points.

“Mmm, Cade,” she moaned. “I could come just
like this.”

“If you don’t move soon I’m going to spank
that pretty ass until burns.”

“You promise?” Her smile was wicked, but she
decided to put him out of his misery. Her own orgasm was too close
to play any longer.

His hand moved between her thighs, rubbing
her clit in slow circles, and her head dropped back on her
shoulders as sensations rioted through her body. Then she began to
move. Her hips lifting, until the head of his cock was barely
inside of her, and then falling again. She kept up the steady
strokes, using her inner muscles to milk him as she rose up and
down. Up and down. His fingers flicked faster, and she tweaked her
nipples until she could feel the spasms start in her womb.

“I’m going to come, love. I can’t hold
back.”

His hands went back to her hips and he began
to thrust up in to her with hard, fast strokes, until she was
coming undone around him, crying out his name with her release even
as he cried out hers. She felt his seed jet against her inner walls
and her orgasm rolled into another and another.

She collapsed to his chest, their breathing
heavy and erratic, and he pulled the covers over them and put his
arms around her. Bayleigh was asleep before she could see the pain
in Cade’s eyes.

“If I could love anyone it would be you,” he
whispered.

Chapter Fourteen

The air shifted subtly, and the silence grew
thick with the unknown—with danger. Cade woke from a sound sleep,
his instincts humming.

Bayleigh had fallen asleep on top of him,
their bodies still joined, and he disentangled himself and rolled
her to her side gently—not making a sound to alert the intruder. He
grabbed the Ruger he knew she kept in the nightstand and felt
around on the floor for his own weapon before moving into the main
part of the house.

He was naked as a baby, but it went
unnoticed. Adrenaline surged through his body, his only thought
protecting Bayleigh. He wouldn’t lose her, no matter the cost.

He stopped in the hallway and listened for
even the slightest sound. There was none, but he knew someone was
there. The smell of coffee had him slowing his steps and letting
out a relieved breath. He saw Declan’s outline in the darkness of
Bayleigh’s kitchen. The man didn’t make a sound as he prepared two
cups of coffee and set them on the table.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Declan said, holding up
the clothes Bayleigh had left lying around, his dark brows raised
high in question.

“You didn’t,” Cade growled, grabbing the
clothes and taking them back to the bedroom with him.

He pulled on his jeans before going back to
meet with his brother. Dec wouldn’t have come unless there was an
emergency, and Cade had a sinking feeling in his gut he knew
exactly what he was here for.

“They found Becca Whitson’s body,” Declan
said.

Cade sat down across from his brother and
took the cup of coffee Dec passed him, drinking down the hot,
bitter liquid with a long swallow.

“Was it like the others?” he asked.

“Yeah, with a few new additions to the
scene.” Dec pulled out a file folder and slid it across the table.
“Becca Whitson looks an awful lot like Bayleigh. They have the same
coloring, though they’re built a little differently.”

“I’ve never seen the girl, but I know
Bayleigh was fond of her. She’d been a client for a while, but
she’d just recently gotten engaged. Bayleigh was designing a large
trousseau for her honeymoon.”

Cade looked through the photos taken at the
crime scene. There was no point in asking how Declan had gotten the
photos and information so quickly. His brother had connections that
boggled Cade’s mind.

“Shit,” Cade said.

His gut clenched at the sight in front of
him. The soldiers Carlos had sent for Becca hadn’t been kind to
her. But it was the pictures scattered around the crime scene that
boiled his blood. He’d known they’d watched the morning Bayleigh
had come to him in his garage.

The pictures showed them both
clearly—Bayleigh pressed against the wall, her head thrown back in
ecstasy while his fingers were buried inside of her. There were
other pictures of her scattered around as well—pictures of her
inside of her shop, going for coffee, and jogging around the
neighborhood. Carlos couldn’t have made it any clearer that
Bayleigh was his next target.

“I can take her in, Cade. Put her in a safe
house until the cartel is destroyed. Carlos is coming after her.
And the word came in from Homeland Security about an hour ago that
Miguel del Fuego died from whatever drug was slipped to him. Carlos
is in charge of the whole operation now. Let me protect her.”

Cade threw down the photos and stared harshly
at his brothers. “No. She’s mine. I won’t trust her safety with
anyone else.”

“You’re not thinking straight. I swear I
won’t let anything happen to her. I’ll see to it myself. I won’t
let anyone else you love be hurt. I didn’t get there in time to
save Carmen, and I regret that every day.”

Cade raked his fingers through his hair and
massaged the stiff muscles at the back of his neck. “There’s
nothing you could have done. You’re not fucking Superman. And
you’re wrong about Bayleigh. I don’t love her. It’s not like that.
But I’m responsible for her. I knew from the beginning that anyone
I was interested in would become an automatic target of the cartel.
She was bait, plain and simple. Once Carlos made it clear that he
had her in his sights, I didn’t have any choice but to draw her in
closer to me. I needed to be able to keep an eye on her all the
time.”

“So you’re saying you fucked her for her own
safety?” Dec asked with a snort.

“Pretty much.”

***

Bayleigh clasped her hand over her mouth and
hunched over as the pain of Cade’s words assaulted her. Her body
jerked as if she’d received a physical blow, and shock kept her
eyes dry even as her hands trembled.

Clear thought wasn’t possible. All she knew
was that she had to escape. She couldn’t face Cade again. Not after
she’d bared her soul to him. Not after he’d taken, no demanded, she
give it to him.

She ran back into the bedroom as quietly as
possible and pulled on a pair of black yoga pants, an old college
sweatshirt, and flip-flops. The backpack in her closet held a
change of clothes, extra keys and cash. Her brothers had made sure
to instill the importance of always being prepared into her once
she’d moved out on her own. She’d never thought she’d need it, but
she was glad she’d listened to their advice.

The blinds of her bay window were pulled down
thanks to Cade’s paranoia, and she raised them slowly, putting her
hand at the bottom and guiding them up so no noise would be made.
She pulled the latch to the window and pushed it open, slipping out
in the space between their two houses and staying to the shadows
under the eaves.

She’d heard Cade say that he had men watching
the house, and she knew the cartel he’d mentioned also had people
watching. Stupid didn’t even begin to describe how she felt. She’d
been attracted to him from the start, and she’d gone into the
affair with her eyes wide open, but that didn’t make his words hurt
any less. She was bait to destroy the cartel who’d killed the woman
he really loved. He’d told her what he could give, and she’d
thought she could change him. Lesson learned. There was no one to
blame but herself.

The trees seemed to close around her as she
ran away from her home. Away from Cade. She used her cell phone to
call a cab and gave the location she wanted to be picked up. It
would take her another ten minutes to reach it at a jog, so the
timing would be right.

She didn’t need either of the MacKenzies to
protect her. She could protect herself. And if she felt she was in
danger all she had to do was put a call in to her brother. Of
course, if Brant and Cade were as close as Cade had said, then she
was sure that Brant would give away her hiding place if Cade asked
him to.

It didn’t matter. The only thing that was
important was that she separate herself from Cade and whatever he
was involved in. She wouldn’t be any man’s burden. And she wasn’t a
victim. She’d had enough of men trying to tell her what to do in
her life. Now all she had to decide was where she was going.

***

“Does it make you feel better to lie to
yourself?” Declan asked. “You can’t sit there and tell me that you
don’t love that woman.”